Identification bands for attachment to a patient's wrist have been in use for many years, particularly in hospitals and other medical institutions. The indentification bands are important since an incapacitated patient may not be able to identify himself, or give meaningful information about himself.
In particular, it may be important to have certain information directly attached to the patient, which cannot be removed by the patient. For example, information carried on the patient regarding his blood typing is important, since an error in cross-matching transfused blood may result in death.
Recently a new system involving direct coding of plastic tape strips used for identification bands has been patented as U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,383, issued to Baucom.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,691, issued to Shears, discloses a type of I. D. (identification) band clip which may be employed in such a band.
The prior art clips, however, suffer from several disadvantages of manufacturing and clinical use. For example, the Shears clip is constructed of sheet metal, usually stainless steel, which comes in contact with the patient's limb, during use. Small children wearing an identification band having a metal clip, such as the Shears clip, may attempt to open the clip with a free hand or their teeth, and injure themselves in the process.
Also, the Shears clip holds the wrist band by friction between a flat, adhesive-coated sponge rubber pad, and the flat, smooth inner surface of the upper arm of the clip. It may be appreciated that a strong individual may be able to free the tape from the Shears clip by tugging on it, overcoming the shear strength of the adhesive.
In addition, if the pad has lost part of its adhesion due to long shelf life or other deterioration, it will not securely hold the tape strip. Thus, the tape strip could be freed, allowing removal of the identification band.
Metal clips are also inconvenient to use, since the metal hinges of the clips are often difficult to deform with mere finger pressure. Thus, a nurse may be forced to resort to pliers or the like to attach the identification band.
The invention of this application provides an identification band clip made chiefly of plastic and having a new, more reliable retention technique, thus reducing or eliminating the disadvantages recited above.